A retired nurse arrested for trying to take her 97-year-old mum out of a care home has said she'll risk prison to care for her.
Gran-of-eight Ylenia Angeli, 73, said she was 'terrified' she would never see dementia-suffering mum Tina Thornborough again due to the fresh lockdown.
She forced her way into the care home on Tuesday and wheeled her mum out without permission from staff and against Covid regulations.
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Shortly afterwards she was detained by cops who were called by staff at the Northgate Care Home in Market Weighton, East Yorks.
Distressing footage of the arrest was put on social media by Ylenia's daughter Leandra Ashton, a former Coronation Street actress.
Ylenia told the Daily Mail: "I will fight with my last breath to get her home. If all else fails, I would gladly go to prison."
Mrs Angeli, who was released without charge, said she had not been able to see her mother properly due to the coronavirus pandemic as care home visits have not been allowed.
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She pleaded for rules around care home visits to be relaxed for relatives.
Ylenia, who is speaking out for 'all the elderly people in care', said: "I took my mum because I want to care for her myself. I want to be the one who feeds her, hugs her, puts my arms around her and everything else.
"She's 97 with not very long left and with the second lockdown imminent I was terrified about not being able to see her.
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"This would have been and probably will turn out to be our last visit with her for some time. If she's at home with me I can see her everyday and give her everything she needs.
"She has deteriorated to the point she needs an awful lot of care and I feel like I'm best-placed to give it to her. I'm a trained nurse, I had my own care home so I know what I'm doing.
"I just want to plead with the social care system to please let me take my mum home."
Ylenia's daughter Leandra, 42, posted footage of police arresting her. She was later de-arrested and her mum was returned to the care home where she has been resident for almost a year.
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Ylenia said: "It was a horrific ordeal. When the police arrested me and put the handcuffs on I just thought, 'this cannot be happening', it was absolutely horrible.
"I could see how upset my daughter was getting and my mum was there too of course, I just wanted to protect them."
Staff at the care home called cops to report an assault and officers arrived and put Ylenia in cuffs. They released her a short time later when the situation had calmed down and Tina had been returned to care.
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Leandra added: "We said my mum was happy to go in and talk about the suspected assault but asked if we could take my nan back to my house, even just for 24 hours. We just wanted to care for her.
"The officer came back and said they were going to take my nan back to the care home, which is when my mum said 'no'.
"She was refusing to let her go back, she made it clear they would have to arrest her before taking her mother.
"They arrested her on suspicion of assault but then de-arrested her not long after."
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Noble of Humberside Police said: "The officer in attendance had to ensure that that everyone was safe and in particular the 97 year old lady who was frail and vulnerable and so made the decision to briefly restrain the 73 year old woman until the situation was calm and under control.
"Officers then returned the elderly lady to the home. The 73 year old lady was then immediately unrestrained, de-arrested and allowed to return home with her daughter.
"She and her daughter thanked the officers for the way they had dealt with the incident. We understand that this is an emotional and difficult situation for all those involved.
"We sympathise with all families who are in this position and will continue to provide whatever support we can to both parties."
The Northgate Care Home has declined to comment.
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: UK Community, Coronavirus, Community, UK